The Corporate Cultural Differences between Swedish and South African Airfreight Companies

Abstract: A study presenting the differences in corporate culture between South African and Swedish airfreight industries with focus on the excess baggage sectors of the industry. This industry is very competitive and very international as goods are being exported and imported in vast amounts around the world. Using a web questionnaire and personal interviews, this gave me a better understanding of the present corporate culture and to highlight the differences between the countries in question. Once these differences are laid down the study shows the possibility of mutual interaction between the industry and the countries. It provides the major differences between the countries and brings forth a hypothesis for the report. The study shows that hierarchy levels play a huge role in the South African company; the relatively high uncertainty level of South Africans is a result of the high power distances between management and employees. A South African employee would try to find a solution to any problem while a Swede would discontinue when the first attempt fails. Furthermore my study provides a general idea of each of the countries, but what is evident is that the airfreight industry follows a certain corporate culture of its own and finally due to the countries diversity, South Africa seems to have an advantage when working with different cultures.